30 years of "Star Wars: Dark Forces": May the blaster be with you!

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At the end of 1993, id Software changed the gaming world forever with "Doom", in more ways than one. Not only did it completely redefine the term "action", but the company also approached the modding community with open arms right from the start. And which mod was extremely popular shortly after the release of "Doom"? Of course: Star Wars. Familiar textures, familiar sprites, familiar blaster hiss. Of course, LucasArts couldn't let that sit on its hands. And so, after two years of development, "Star Wars: Dark Forces" was released in spring 1995 – and was to change the playable Star Wars universe forever.

Stop, rebel scum!

"In Your Face Star Wars Action" – Now that's a motto, isn't it? "Get up close and personal with the deadliest stormtroopers and most vile aliens ever in LucasArts Entertainment Company's first-person action/adventure Dark Forces." – Could a game fan, who was almost automatically in love with Star Wars at the time, ask for more?

Most Star Wars games focus on the good, virtuous Jedi. And yet the dark side is much more interesting, as "TIE Fighter" in 1994 made abundantly clear. But of course, Luke Skywalker was originally supposed to be the main character in "Dark Forces" too. However, the developers realized that this decision did not fit in very well with the existing Star Wars universe. So they created a new character: Kyle Katarn. He was originally a staunch officer of the Empire after his parents were murdered by the rebels. At least that's what he was told. However, when he found out that the whole thing was a lie and that the Empire was behind the dastardly deed, he turned his back on the Vader troop and from then on hired himself out as a neutral mercenary. The first mission of "Dark Forces" is also one of the most important for the rebels: Senator Mon Mothma asks Kyle to steal the blueprints of the so-called "Death Star" – whatever that thing is supposed to be ...

However, this introduction is just a kind of finger exercise for Kyle, because after a short time he has a much more important mission: to find out the truth about the so-called "Dark Troopers", a new elite unit of the Empire, a handful of which are enough to reduce a planet to rubble. At first, the Dark Troopers only sound like horror stories, but Kyle soon discovers that this special nightmare actually exists and poses a much greater threat to the Rebellion than the Death Star.

The imperial life of luxury

The story of "Dark Forces" is mainly progressed between missions in short, crudely animated comic book cutscenes and a lot of text. This really isn't presented in a particularly exciting way, and above all it isn't very much: no wonder, as the entire game data on the CD comprises just 71 megabytes. This is very surprising, especially for a company like LucasArts, which already has pomp and gigantomania in its name.

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"Star Wars: Dark Forces" wird 30 Jahre alt (11 Bilder)

Nevertheless, the game is full of fanservice, and from the very first second you feel part of the legendary universe. And this despite the fact that the usual suspects are absent from the game: No Luke Skywalker, no Han Solo, no Chewbacca, no Princess Leia. And no lightsaber either – because that was only used in the sequel "Jedi Knight". Instead, there is Mon Mothma, who issues orders. Darth Vader, who plays the rattling supervillain. Jabba The Hutt, who throws you to his biting Kell dragon. Or Boba Fett, who makes a very veritable boss opponent. All of this is accompanied by the legendary John Williams soundtrack, which still sounds phenomenal even as a MIDI version, supplemented by excellent additional compositions from the pen of LucasArts in-house musician Clint Bajakian. Relevant characters such as Kyle Katarn or General Mohc have their themes which, thanks to the iMuse system, always merge seamlessly from track to track.

However, the absolute acoustic icing on the cake comes with the effects and the voice output, as both are largely taken directly from the films. All the blasters blast exactly as we know them from the movies, and the legendary "Wilhelm Scream", which was used in all three original films, among others, also makes for a big grin in the game. And the enemies sometimes greet you with slogans such as "You're in violation of imperial law!"